Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by private companies in Greene County Bancorp indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy
• The largest shareholder of the company is Greene County Bancorp, MHC with a 54% stake
• Insiders have bought recently

If you want to know who really controls Greene County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GCBC), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 54% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Individual investors, on the other hand, account for 25% of the company's stockholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Greene County Bancorp.

See our latest analysis for Greene County Bancorp

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Greene County Bancorp?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Greene County Bancorp already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Greene County Bancorp, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Greene County Bancorp. Our data shows that Greene County Bancorp, MHC is the largest shareholder with 54% of shares outstanding. This implies that they have majority interest control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.5% by the third-largest shareholder. In addition, we found that Donald Gibson, the CEO has 1.0% of the shares allocated to their name.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. We're not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

Insider Ownership Of Greene County Bancorp

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Greene County Bancorp, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own US$26m worth of stock in the US$509m company. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 25% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 54%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.